The field of the invention relates to virtual document generation in general and to tagging a virtual document in particular.
Currently, when a physical document interfaces with a computer environment, two types of actions may be performed. One operation is the xe2x80x9cscanningxe2x80x9d of the document into the computer. Scanning may involve either storing an image of the document or conversion of the physical document into computer text using optical character recognition (OCR), or both. Optical character recognition is the machine recognition of printed characters. OCR systems can recognize many different OCR fonts, as well as typewritten or computer-printed characters. Advanced OCR systems can recognize hand printing.
After a document is scanned/converted into a computer format (a xe2x80x9cvirtualxe2x80x9d document), a further step, known as xe2x80x9ctaggingxe2x80x9d, may take place. Tagging entails placing an identification on the document so that it can be referred to and accessed later. The tag may be placed on the physical and/or virtual document. This tagging step in some cases is omitted, making it more difficult to later recognize the document.
The two steps of scanning and tagging a document have, in prior art, been considered related but unconnected events, taking place at separate times and/or using separate instruments. To illustrate, in a hospital environment, patient records are kept in a variety of physical and virtual forms. These two formats need to be rationalized. Currently, the process of converting paper records into computer records is somewhat ad hoc, usually occurring either at the end of the day or at the end of care. Additionally, the conversion process typically takes place in an inconvenient location and the process may or may not involve tagging of the documents. If tagging is involved, it requires a separate device. The risk of error and omission of records is increased as a result of these factors. Many paper records will therefore not become available on-line and computer systems are kept from being fully utilized.